ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 1921
http://www.s-gabriel.org/1921
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From: "Braddon Giles" 
14 Feb 2000

Greetings from the Academy of St. Gabriel!

You wrote to us attempting to help a friend, and asked for our
assistance regarding the historically correct form of a Spanish
masculine name, between 1000 and 1400.  Specifically, your friend
was interested in the south of Spain and the name <Francisco
Pelaez>, although you expected that the spelling may be different
from that period.  Here is what we discovered.

<Francisco> was not a common name until late in your friend's
period.  The earliest examples we found are the Latinized
<Franciscus Antonius> in 1152, and <Francisco Gonzalga> in 1250
[1].  It became more common in the 14th century, e.g. <Francisco
de Perello/s> from Castilla in 1366 [2], and very popular in the
15th century and later [3].  The <o/> represents an 'o' with an
acute accent.

Most Spanish names from the 11th to 14th centuries included a given
name and a single byname.  The byname was essentially a descriptive
identifier, usually naming the person's father or the place where
he lived.  Upper-class names sometimes contained both a patronymic
and a locative.   For example, Francisco, son of Martin, who lived
in Lugo, could have been known as <Francisco Martinez> or
<Francisco de Lugo> and perhaps as <Francisco Martinez de Lugo>.

The byname <Pelaez> is a patronymic form of the Spanish masculine
name  <Pelayo>.  We have found numerous examples like <Fernan
Pelaez> 1029, <Joan Pelagez> 1064, <Melen Pelaez> 1274, <Gonzalvo
Pelaiez> 1110, <Esteban Pelez> 1284 and <Eferrand Paez> 1286.
Early on it was also found in the Latin documentary form
<Pelagius>, for example <Martino Pelagiades> in 1111 and 1131 [4].
This Latin form is only found in the early part of the period you
specified.

In the early part of his period southern Spain was ruled by
Muslims.  By 1250, most of southern Spain had been conquered by
Castile, though Granada, in the very south, was only conquered by
the Christians in 1492.  Therefore we recommend that he focus on
the period after 1250.  The name <Franciso> is also more likely to
have been used after 1250.

There are some good historical maps of Iberia on the web:

  Maps of the Spanish Kingdoms 1030 A.D. - 1556 A.D.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/Libs/PCL/Map_collection/historical/spanish_kingdoms.html

Therefore we heartily recommend <Francisco Pelaez> as a fine
Spanish masculine name, and suggest that the last century of your
friend's period is the best time to use it.  As you can see, no
other names are needed and no change is necessary in spelling for
this name to be authentic, although the other spellings of <Pelaez>
are equally as valid.

We hope this letter has been useful.  Please write to us again if
any part of it has been unclear or if you have other questions.  I
was assisted in researching and writing this letter by Juliana de
Luna, Pedro de Alcazar, Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Talan Gwynek, Amant
le Marinier, Talan Gwynek, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja and Arval
d'Espas Nord.

For the Academy,


Giles Leabrook.

14 / Feb /2000

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Bibliography.

[1] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses:
Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957);
pp. 89, 111.

[2] De Atienza, Julio, _Nobiliario Espan~ol_ (Madrid: Aguilar SA de
Ediciones, 1954); s.n. Perello/s.

[3] Elsbeth Anne Roth, _16th-century Spanish Men's Names_ (WWW:
SCA, Inc., 1998).
  http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/spanish-m.html

[4] Diez Melcon, R. P. Gonzalo, _Apellidos Castellano-Leoneses:
Siglos IX-XIII, ambos inclusive_ (Universidad de Granada, 1957);
p.154.